Cronus
In Greek mythology, Cronus (Greek: Κρονος, Kronos, "time") was the King of the Titans when the Titans were the rulers of the earth. He presides over time, particularly time as a destructive force, and the harvest. Cronus is the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea and he married his sister, Rhea. With Rhea, Cronus is the father of Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus. Cronus is also the father of Chiron and the Ichthyocentaurs by Philyra. Cronus is equated with Saturn in Roman mythology, Osiris in Egyptian mythology, and Satre in Etruscan mythology. Mythology Overthrow of Uranus Cronus envied the power of his father, the ruler of the universe, Uranus. Uranus drew the enmity of Cronus' mother, Gaea, when he hid the gigantic youngest children of Gaea, the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes, in Tartarus, so that they would not see the light. Gaea created a gray flint sickle and gathered together Cronus and his brothers to persuade them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed so Gaea gave him the sickle and placed him in ambush. When Uranus met with Gaea, Cronus attacked him with the sickle while his brothers held down their father from the four pillars of the earth. Cronus castrated his father and threw his testicles into the sea. Titanomachy After dispatching Uranus, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes and set the dragon Kampe to guard them. He and his sister, Rhea, took the throne of the world as king and queen. The period in which Cronus ruled was called the Golden Age, as the people of the time had no need for laws or rules; everyone did the right thing and immortality was absent. Cronus learned from Gaea and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his own sons, just as he had overthrown his father. As a result, although he sired five children by Rhea, he devoured them all as soon as they were born to prevent the prophecy from coming true. When the sixth child, Zeus, was born, Rhea sought Gaea to devise a plan tno save them and to eventually get retribution for his acts against his father and children. Rhea secretly gave birth to Zeus in Crete and handed Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed, thinking that it was his son. Rhea kept Zeus hidden in a cave on Mount Ida, Crete, and was raised by the Kouretes and Amaltheia. Once he had grown up, Zeus used a mixture of mustard and wine to force Cronus to disgorge the contents of his stomach, the stone and his eldest five children. In a vast war called the Titanomachy, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, with the help of the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes, overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. Afterwards, most of the Titans were confined to Tartarus. Generations later, Zeus released the Titans from their Tartarean prison and made Cronus the Lord of Elysium in the Underworld. Category:Greek deities Category:Greek mythology Category:Greek Titans